In view of the trends for longevity of the individuals, the importance of health care and maintenance has been receiving increasing attention. As urine is an important source of information that represents the health conditions of an individual, various dysfunction such as pancreatic disorders (typically, diabetes), hypohepatia, and kidney disorders can be detected advantageously in a non-invasive manner by performing quantitative analysis of certain urine constituents, such as glucose, protein, urobilinogen, occult blood and other substances. Accordingly, proposed in the art are toilets having a urinalysis function which are capable of performing sampling and analysis of urine so as to assist the individuals in rendering their health check by making use of toilets provided in residences, offices and other facilities.
For instance, JP-A-59-217844 of Toto Ltd., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,961,431 to Ikenaga et al., 4,962,550 to Ikenaga et al., 4,982,741 to Saito et al., 5,073,500 to Saito et al., 5,111,539 to Hiruta et al., and 5,184,359 to Tsukamura et al., propose to form a urine sampling cavity or sampling well on the bowl surface of a water closet bowl fixture to sample a quantity of urine excreted into the toilet bowl. The urine specimen thus sampled is subjected to urinalysis by way of liquid chromatographic process, colorimetric analysis process, or polarographic or voltammetric process.
The advantage of these sampling systems which are designed to make use of the urine sampling cavity or sampling well formed on the bowl surface is that urine excreted into the toilet bowl is received and collected by a considerably wide surface area of the bowl so that urine is readily sampled regardless of the direction of urination or the variation in the trajectory of urine column. Therefore, an adequate quantity of urine necessary for urinalysis can easily be sampled even in the case of elderly people who are apt to suffer from the shortage of the amount of urine per urination.
However, the problem associated with these systems is that they require a special-purpose toilet bowl fixture provided with a urine sampling cavity or well formed on the bowl surface for the purposes of sampling of urine so that a standard-type toilet bowl fixture having the conventional bowl configuration cannot be used. Accordingly, in order to sample urine and perform urinalysis at a toilet of residence, office or other facility, the existing conventional bowl fixture must first be removed and then a special purpose bowl fixture envisioned for sampling and urinalysis must be installed. This involves a great deal of labor and expenses for reform works and necessitates to discard the existing bowl fixture.
Furthermore, as such special purpose toilet bowl fixtures must be manufactured specially and separately from standard-type toilet bowls, it is difficult to produce them via the mass production process. As a result, these systems are too expensive to be installed widely in regular households and offices.
Another disadvantage is the difficulty in obtaining a good urine specimen since residual flushing water remaining in the urine sampling cavity of the bowl surface after flushing of the bowl tends to dilute the fresh urine to be sampled. Similarly, the fresh urine sample is susceptible to contamination by residual urine and feces since the urine sampling section is formed on the bowl surface.
In FIG. 4 of JP-A-62-187253 of K. K. Inax, there is disclosed a sampling apparatus wherein a swing arm supporting an excrement sampling vessel is rotated along the bowl surface of a toilet bowl fixture to sample urine or other excrement. The bowl is provided at the rear part thereof with a cavity serving as a testing region, the excrement sampling vessel being moved after sampling into the testing region wherein excrement is subjected to analysis. After use, the sampling vessel is washed in the same rear region. This apparatus also requires a special purpose bowl fixture provided at the rear part with the testing region and also suffers from the disadvantage that a standard toilet bowl fixture cannot be used.
JP-A-3-139334 of Matsushita Denko K. K. discloses a urine sampling and analyzing apparatus having a wheeled main body which is intended to be pulled aside of the toilet bowl fixture when in use and to be moved away into a non-obstructive location such as the corner of the toilet room when not in use. The main body supports a urine sampling cup in a telescoping fashion so that, when urine is to be sampled, the urine sampling cup is moved into the bowl through a gap defined between the toilet bowl and the toilet seat. A testing strip is dipped into the urine sample sampled by the sampling cup and is tested for urinalysis.
The advantage of this apparatus is that urine can be sampled by using a standard-type toilet bowl fixture. However, the problem involved in this apparatus is that the wheeled main body as placed on the toilet floor occupies the toilet floor and therefore hinders cleaning of the toilet as well as routine use of the toilet for the purposes of excretion. Handling and manipulation of the apparatus is cumbersome because, each time the apparatus is used, the main body must be moved toward and away from the toilet bowl in order to position the apparatus in a non-obstructive location after use.
Furthermore, the position of the sampling cup is so high that the cup interferes with or comes too close to the body of the user as seated on the toilet seat because the sampling cup is inserted through the gap between the bowl and the toilet seat in the lateral direction to extend above the bowl. Moreover, the user must control the position of the main body of the apparatus by the hands to ensure that the sampling cup is properly positioned to meet the trajectory of falling urine. As a result, sampling of urine is extremely difficult to perform so that there is a risk of failure of sampling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,474 to Ogura et al., JP-A-60-117155 of Toshiba K. K., and JP-U-1-136573 of Matsushita Denko K. K. disclose urinalysis apparatus wherein a swingable arm is mounted for pivoting movement to a toilet seat, with a urine sensor being arranged at the free end of the arm to analyze urine upon contact with urine excreted into the bowl. Similarly, JP-A-60-233551 of Matsushita Denki Sangyo K. K. discloses a urinalysis device which comprises a casing adapted to be hanged on the rim of the bowl fixture, an arm extending from the casing into the bowl, a spoon-shaped urine sampling vessel mounted to the end of the arm, and a urine sensor arranged in the sampling vessel. These apparatus also enjoy the advantage that they can be used in combination with the standard toilet bowl fixtures.
However, contacting the sensor directly with the original urine gives rise to several problems. Thus, in contrast to diagnosis by way of blood wherein the hydrogen ion concentration (pH), the chlorine ion concentration and the oxygen concentration are constantly conditioned to a high degree by various physiological organs, urine as an excrement from the human body is subject to a wide range of variations in the pH, the chlorine ion concentration and the oxygen concentration from sample to sample so that it is difficult to perform a high degree of analysis for a particular urinal constituent unless urine as sampled is diluted by a buffer. In addition, contacting the sensor directly with the original urine without dilution causes premature degradation of the sensor and reduces the service life thereof. Further, it is impossible to perform urinalysis for a plurality of items because it is difficult to arrange a plurality of sensors at the end of the swingable arm.
JP-U-5-30764 of NOK K. K. proposes a health diagnostic apparatus which is adapted to sample a quantity of urine by a urine sampling mechanism attached to a toilet seat and to transfer it to an analyzer station for urinalysis. In order to sample urine excreted from the user seated on the toilet seat by receiving it in mid air within the inner space of the toilet bowl, a swingable arm is pivoted at an end thereof to the underside of the toilet seat for swinging movement about a vertical axis, a vertically elongated tubular urine sampling cup being mounted to the other end of the arm. Urine sampled by the sampling cup is drawn by a manual or automatic syringe and, after being mixed with liquid reagent, is forwarded to the measuring station including an absorption spectrophotometer in which it is subjected to analysis.
This health diagnostic apparatus also enjoys the advantage of sampling urine by making use of a standard toilet bowl fixture without requiring a specially-fabricated toilet bowl fixture, since urine is sampled in mid air by the sampling cup which is moved within the inner space of the bowl. Furthermore, a high degree of analysis can be achieved as urine specimen is subjected to analysis after being diluted by the liquid reagent.
However, the problem of this apparatus is that it is difficult to effectively perform sampling of urine as excreted. More specifically, the direction of urination is subject to fluctuation depending on the difference in the sexuality of the user to the extent that in the case of a male the urine column tends to fall forwardly of the bowl along a relatively high trajectory in contrast to a female whose urine column tends to fall rather rearwardly of the bowl along a relatively low trajectory. In addition, the direction of urination varies from individual to individual so that the direction deviates each time depending on the posture of the user as seated on the toilet seat. As a result, the trajectory of the urine column falling into the bowl space of the toilet fixture tends to deflect in the vertical direction and the fore-and-aft direction as well as in the lateral direction. Accordingly, it is desirable that a urine sampling mechanism be capable of reliably and readily sampling urine regardless of any fluctuation in the trajectory of urine column that would result due to the sexual difference of the user or due to the variation in the posture of the user as seated on the toilet seat. This is particularly important when the total quantity of urine per urination is limited as is the case of elderly people who have increasing needs for urinalysis.
In order to sample urine without failure despite the occurrence of such a fluctuation in the trajectory of urine column, it would be desirable that the urine sampling vessel be made as large in size as possible. Otherwise, the chance of sampling would be lost if the urine column unfortunately fails to hit right on the sampling vessel. On the other hand, however, it is also desirable that, when not in use, the sampling vessel be readily stored in a non-obstructive place situated, for example, underneath the toilet seat, because the toilet must also be used for the purposes of routine excretion insofar as the urine sampling is performed by making use of a standard toilet fixture. To this end, therefore, another requirement imposed on the design of the urine sampling vessel is that it must be made sufficiently small in size and must be designed in such a form that facilitates storage. The urine sampling mechanism proposed in JP-U-5-30764 is difficult to meet with these opposing requirements because a cylindrical sampling cup elongated in the vertical direction is adopted.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention, broadly, is to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling urine at a toilet equipped with a conventional standard water closet bowl fixture.
More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling urine which are capable of sampling urine readily and without failure regardless of a fluctuation in the trajectory of urine column that would occur in the vertical, fore-and-aft or lateral direction due to the sexual difference of the user or due to the variation in the posture of the user as seated on the toilet seat.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling urine which are capable of effectively sampling urine while making use of a urine sampling vessel designed in such a form as to facilitate storage thereof when not in use.
A still another object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling urine which are capable of sampling urine without failure even when the user urinates with an easy posture.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling urine which do not hinder cleaning and routine use of the toilet.